Peeta's side of the story
by sydenay
Summary: We've all read The Hunger Games through the eyes of Katniss Everdeen, and I'm sure you've read many fanfics of Peeta's side of the story before. But not as told by me. I've wanted to do this for a while now, so here it goes :


Chapter one

I honestly don't want to wake up. Not today. Usually, I'd happily be out of bed right now, making bread or icing cakes downstairs with my father and my two older brothers. I even wouldn't mind seeing my witch of a mother on a normal day. After all, she is my mother. But today, on the day of the Reaping, nobody felt quite like doing anything but wait for the inevitable. Wait for the two names to be chosen.

For a while I just lay there in bed, not wanting to get up. I have to get up sooner or later though, my mother will be angry with me if I don't do my day's share of work, even if today is the worst of all possible days.

When I finally get downstairs I catch my dad in an act I'm sure my mother is totally embarrassed of. Gale Hawthorne is trading my father a loaf of bread for a squirrel, which I'm sure he'll get hell for later on when mother finds out what we're having for dinner, but my father is nice like that. He's always been nice to everybody in District 12, not just the people who are as lucky as us. I guess he must be feeling sentimental today, considering I could be chosen. It's a slim chance, but it's still a chance.

My father and Gale exchange a little bit of small talk and before he leaves, my father wishes him luck.

As I make my way down the stairs towards my father, I think about the resentment I feel towards Gale Hawthorne. He's got the girl I love so desperately, wrapped around his fingers. Or at least, that's how I see it. They hunt together, they hang around school together, and it just makes me sick to my stomach. But I'll never make my move, and I'll never get the girl of my dreams because she will never want me.

"Good morning," I say sombrely to my father.

"Good morning, Son.' He says, his eyes a little teary.

I walk out to the back room where we prepare the baked goods and put them into the ovens and get pretend to knead some bread dough.

Hours later, I'm dressed in my best clothes and I'm standing with a group of kids from my area of District 12 and I'm watching a drunken Haymitch Abernathy, our last victor, stumble onto the stage and fall into the chair reserved for him. Mayor Undersee and the escort of District 12, Effie Trinket whose pink hair could only be a wig, both look very annoyed at him. The crowd applauses but this only confuses him and he ends up trying to hug Effie, which freaks her right out.

The mayor then introduces Effie Trinket and she walks to the podium and says, "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be _ever_ in your favour!" I stifle a laugh because her wig has shifted to the side of her head.

While I'm smiling to myself, I think, it's time for the first drawing, and as always Effie Trinket says, "Ladies first!" and walks over to the glass ball containing the girl's names.

She picks it and smiles as she smoothes out the paper and says clearly, "Primrose Everdeen!" and the crowd begins to murmur unhappily. My mind is reeling right now, it can't be. Katniss's twelve-year-old sister Prim has been chosen and I know what is about to happen next. She loves her sister so much that she'll volunteer to take her place.

"Prim!" I hear her strangled cry from somewhere in the crowd as her sister walks to the stage. Her poor sister's blouse must have been hers in the past because it's way too big for her, it won't stay tucked in properly.

"I volunteer!" She yells and at that moment my worst fear becomes a reality, "I volunteer as tribute!"

"Lovely! But I believe there's a small matter of introducing the reaping winner and then asking for volunteers, and if one does come forth then we, um…" Says Effie Trinket awkwardly. Nobody has volunteered in District 12 in a long time considering it meant death.

The mayor brushes it off though, "What does it matter?"

Katniss's sister is screaming for her not to go, but Katniss won't have any of it. Gale comes and pulls her off of Katniss's back so she could go up to the stage. He says something to her, but I can't hear. All I can do is watch her as my heart breaks into a million pieces.

"Well bravo! That's the spirit of the Games! What's your name?" Effie asks Katniss.

"Katniss Everdeen," she replies.

"I bet my buttons that was your sister. Don't want her to steal all the glory do we? Come on everybody! Let's giver a big round of applause to our newest tribute!" She trills, but nobody claps. Why would we do such a thing when she clearly is doing the bravest thing that not one of us would even think of doing?

We all do the only thing we can to tell her how precious she is to us, for what she's done here today. We all take the tree middle fingers of our left hands, place them to our lips and hold them out to her. It is a gesture seldom used but it means thank you, we admire you, we love you, goodbye.

Haymitch walks across the stage and throws his arm around her, "Look at her. Look at this one! I like her! Lots of…" he thinks for a moment, "Spunk!" He points into a camera, "More than you!" but as soon as he's said it, he's fallen off of the stage and has knocked himself unconscious.

After he is taken away in a stretcher and everything is settled down, Effie walks to the ball that contains the boy's names. "Peeta Mellark!"

Oh no…

I make my way to the stage, trying to stay calm. I don't want anybody to know what I'm feeling right now, which is total terror. I'm going to have to either kill the girl I love or be killed by her. Or worse-watch somebody else kill her. Nobody volunteers for me, like I knew nobody would. My brothers and I are close, but not that close.

The mayor begins the Treaty of Treason and I stand there, trying to listen to him...but all I can think about was the first time we ever came into almost communication.

I remember it was raining really badly outside the day we met. It was a cold rainy day and my father was helping me in the kitchen.

"Come on Kiddo, let's teach you how to make some better bread than that. You don't want your mother to see you kneading dough like that." My father had said to me, so many years ago. He showed me, as he had so many times before, how to properly knead the dough. We laughed and joked until I got into the swing of things and he left me alone to bake in peace.

I was sneaking a bit of cake mix from the bowl my mother was mixing while I waited for the bread to bake when we heard a noise out near our trash bins. She was too distracted to yell at me because she ran outside. I followed and stuck my head out from behind her back. She yelled, "Get away, do you want me to call the Peacekeepers? I'm so sick of you brats from the Seam pawing through my trash!"

It was the girl I loved. The girl I could never stop thinking of, the girl with the most beautiful singing voice in the whole world. Katniss Everdeen looked so cold, her clothes clung to her and her cheeks were so hollow. She put the lid back on and walked over to our apple tree. Her knees buckled and she looked so miserable. I had to do something.

I walked over to where my bread was baking and pushed it into the flames of the fire. My mother saw me do this and she slapped me right in the face so hard I saw stars. She took them out, handed them to me and sent me outside. As I sloshed through the mud, she yelled, "Feed it to the pig, you stupid creature! Why not? No one decent will buy burned bread!"

I started to tear off chunks of the bread but not large ones, just small enough to make her think I was giving the whole thing to the pig. As soon as she disappeared inside the shop, I threw them in her direction without so much as glancing at her. There, now she would survive another day. I walked back to the house and closed the door.

The day after that, I tried to speak to her many times but she never noticed. We passed by eachother in the hallway at school, but I was with my friends and they'd most likely turn their noses up towards her if she were to address me, so I just kept walking as if I didn't notice her. But I know she noticed me, my black eye and my swollen cheek.

Then, at the end of the day when I was standing in the school yard, I noticed her at the other end. She was holding her sister's hand and I believe they were on their way home. When she noticed me staring at her, I turned my head away, embarrassed.

I was blushing uncontrollably as I made my way home to the bakery.

Even now, as I am told to shake Katniss's hand I'm blushing. I'm sure she doesn't notice. As we shake hand, I notice hers is very cold. I know what she must be thinking- that she's going to have to kill me or I'm going to have to kill her. I want to let her know that we don't have to fight eachother, that I can be her ally if she lets me, so I look her right in the eye and squeeze her hand reassuringly, hoping my message gets across.

We turn back to the sea of people as the anthem of Panem plays.

**Chapter two**

After the anthem is finished, we are taken to the Justice building by a group of Peacekeepers. I am separated from Katniss and taken into an elaborately decorated room. Everything is covered in velvet fabric, the couch, and the chairs. The floor is covered in deep plush carpeting. Now is the time to say goodbye to loved ones.

My whole family walks through the doors of the room, my father, my brothers and even my mother. I'm sitting on the large couch and my father comes to sit next to me. He puts his arms around me and whispers, "Peeta Mellark, you'd better come home alive. Who's going to frost the cakes so beautifully while you're gone? I love you so much that it hurts."

My brother Mile, who's sitting on the other side of my father, says, "He's a strong one, he'll be fine." And wipes his eyes with the front of his shirt.

My other brother, Fleur, nods his head and whispers, "I couldn't do it Peeta. Not what Katniss did. You have to understand…"

It's a while until my mother says anything at all, and the only thing she says is, "Maybe District Twelve will finally have a winner." She says it as if to cheer me up, and at first I think she's talking about me. But the detached tone of her voice tells me otherwise. She's talking about Katniss.

My brothers shake their heads at her, and my father reaches into his pocket and pulls out a bag of cookies. "This is for Katniss. Is it okay that I made these for her? You wouldn't mind if I stopped by and gave them to her, would you?"

I nod my head and he hugs me before he walks out of the room. My mother doesn't even look at me as she leaves. I'm already dead to her now anyway. My brothers nod their heads at me and walk out with her, leaving me totally alone and free to cry until the Peacekeepers come for me to bring me to the train station.

When I get to the station, I see Katniss appears to be feeling pretty bored. I know it's an act, but she makes it look so believable. I feel bad for having cried; she'll think me weak. I notice that there are cameras everywhere and feel very awkward about it, but I guess I have to get used to it fast.

We stand for a few minutes in the doorway of the train because the cameras want to get a good look at us, but once we step onto it, the doors close extremely fast and begins to move right away.

The train's speed takes me aback and I can tell Katniss feels the same way. Both of us have never been on a train before. This train is very different than the trains District 12 uses to transport coal, our main export. It is very fancy, and we are each given our own living quarters. They have a bathroom with hot and cold running water, a place to dress oneself, and a bedroom.

I am told that I can do anything I want while I wait for dinner and immediately I head for the shower. It feels so nice to take a shower, because I've never taken one before. Even though I live in the wealthier part of District 12, that doesn't mean we can afford a luxury like this. After my shower, I pick a pair of comfy grey pants and a black shirt to wear and head into the dining car.

As I wait for everybody else to arrive, Haymitch walks in and tells me to tell Effie he's gone to take a nap. I nod my head and cringe at the acrid smell he's secreting.

When Katniss and Effie Trinket walk into the car, Effie asks, "Where is Haymitch?" and I tell her what he told me to say.

She says something else, but I'm not paying attention to her. Katniss sits down next to me and we all dig in to our supper. It comes in five courses of the most delicious foods I have ever eaten. Carrot soup, salad, lamb chops and mashed potatoes, cheese and fruits and for desert, chocolate cake. We can't help ourselves; we eat so much of the food because none of us have ever had this much food at our disposal, especially Katniss who has to hunt to put food on her table. Well, on both of our tables because my father gets most of our meat from her and Gale.

Effie says something about how last year, the tributes had no manners at the table and how nice it is that we do. I notice that Katniss puts down her fork and knife and eats the rest of the meal with her hands. This makes me chuckle quietly.

I've eaten so much by the time the meal is over, that I'm feeling sick to my stomach and I can see that Katniss feels the same way. We make our way to another compartment to watch the recap of the reapings.

As each name is called my heart goes out to them, especially a little girl from District 11 who reminds me of Katniss's sister Primrose. It makes me sick that they do this to children, pitting us against eachother in an arena, making us kill other children like monsters. None of us are monsters, not even the tributes that've been trained their whole lives for the moment to volunteer in the Hunger Games. I am disgusted, we're all just pawns.

After it is all over, Effie says, "Your mentor has a lot to learn about presentation. A lot to learn about televised behaviour."

I laugh at this and state the obvious, "He was drunk, he's drunk every year." And Katniss add, "Every day," and smirks.

Haymitch stumbles into the compartment and says, "I miss supper?" and vomits all over the floor until he falls in it.

"So laugh away!" Effie says as she walks away from all of this.

Katniss and I look at eachother and silently take each one of his arms and get him up on his feet.

"I tripped? Smells bad" Says Haymitch as he wipes his nose, smearing vomit onto his face.

"Lets get you back to your room," I say. "Clean you up a bit." And we take him to his room and throw him into his bathtub, turning the shower on him, which he doesn't even notice.

"It's okay, I'll take it from here," I say to her. I can feel her aversion to the idea of seeing him naked.

"All right, I can send one of the Capitol people to help you." She says, but I shake my head. "No. I don't want them." And Katniss nods, understanding my resentment towards them, then leaves.

I strip Haymitch of his clothes and get him washed, gagging every so often at his stench. When I'm done, he gets up by himself and I can feel his embarrassment. I wrap a towel around him and he mumbles a thanks. He gets out of the tub and walks into his bedroom, climbs onto his bed and says, "Shut the light when you leave."

I make my way to my room and strip my clothes. I get into bed naked, I don't feel like wearing the Capitol supplied clothes any longer. I just lay there for the longest time until I feel my eyelids begin to droop and I fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.

When I wake up, I notice that it's still dark outside. I stay in my bed until Effie knocks at my door and tells me that it's going to be a big, big, big day.

I get up and throw on a random pair of pants and shirt and head to the dining compartment, where Haymitch is sitting. I sit down next to him and begin eating. There is so much food here, just like last night, but I remember that my stomach felt upset when I ate so much of that food, so I am careful today. There are eggs, fried potatoes and ham, fresh fruit and baskets of rolls. There is orange juice, coffee and a hot brown cup of sweet smelling liquid. I take a sip and realize it's chocolate!

"What's this stuff called?" I ask Haymitch.

"Hot chocolate." He replies.

I dip my roll into it and find that it tastes amazing. I'm a little embarrassed because I asked such a silly question, of course it would be called hot chocolate, and Haymitch is chuckling to himself. Katniss walks in and sits down across from me, taking in all of the food. When she looks at her hot chocolate confusedly, I tell her what it is. "It's good," I say.

We continue to eat in silence until Katniss says to Haymitch, "So, you're supposed to give us advice."

Here some advice. Stay alive," says Haymitch, which sends a sudden burst of anger through me. Katniss and I exchange a look, and I say to him, "That's very funny," and lash out on the glass in his hand. "Only not to us."

He seems to think about it for a moment, but then punches me straight in the jaw, knocking me from my chair. He turns back to his alcohol and Katniss sends a knife his way, jabbing it between the bottle and his hand.

"Well what's this?" says Haymitch. "Did I actually get a pair of fighters this year?"

I get up and reach for the fruit tureen to get some ice for my jaw, but Haymitch has plans for my injury. "No, let the bruise show. The audience will think you've mixed it up with another tribute before you've even made it to the arena."

I am taken aback at this, "That's against the rules."

He replies, "Only if they catch you. That bruise will say you fought, you weren't caught, even better." And turns to Katniss. "Can you hit anything with that knife besides a table?"


End file.
